UNAIR NEWS – Educational background has not limited two alumni of Faculty of Pharmacy (Alfas) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) to achieve their dreams. It is the story of success experienced by Apt. Felix Justin and Apt. Astari Noor Pratiwi. In an online meeting on Monday, September 19, 2020, both Alfas members shared their journey from being a pharmacy graduate to being musicians.
The first guest, Felix Justin, has been known well as one of the Indonesian pianists who had the opportunity to perform before the Queen of the Netherlands and the Queen of Belgium. Who would have thought that this musical genius was UNAIR pharmacy class of 2003. The Erasmus scholarship awardee at Royal College of Music London for the past 10 years has performed from concerts to concerts across the Netherlands.
Felix’s love for the piano has emerged since he was 3.5 years old. However, the turning point of his career towards music began after graduated from UNAIR. “At UNAIR, I was in choir club. Then after graduation, I spent two years teaching at Irama Music School in Surabaya. In 2010, I went to Europe to study music, until now I stay to work in Utrecht, the Netherlands, “said the graduate of Faculty of Pharmacy UNAIR with cum laude achievement.
Asked about the challenges in Pharmacy and music, Felix said that they both have different challenges and uniqueness from each other. In pharmacy, the standard used to judge students is value. Meanwhile, in music schools, the quality of students is assessed through ‘taste’. “And of course my calling for now is music. Well, even though my friends here (Dutch, ed) still often ask questions about medicine because they know I have graduated from pharmacy, ” he said.
Meanwhile for Astrid, turning to the world of music is one of the biggest choices she has ever made. Before working as a piano teacher, Astrid had been working for 5 years in a pharmaceutical factory in Bogor. Until 2010, she chose to move to Jakarta and work in the field of personality development and started her career as a piano teacher.
“One of my greatest achievements is getting the opportunity to teach at the music school owned by the famous musician Purwacaraka. I took a test, had a direct interview with him, and a series of other assessment, ”said the alumna from Class of 2008 who has known the piano world since elementary school.
According to Astrid, her environment greatly influences her love for music. A supportive environment encouraged her to be more successful in achieving and maintaining her dreams. Likewise, Felix chose the Netherlands as his study destination because the country was more open and adaptive to foreign students.
In the event hosted by Apt. Graha Wira Krida and Irfan Mustofa, was attended by alumni, lecturers, and students of FF UNAIR. The event held via Zoom and streamed on YouTube FAST Corp successfully caught the attention of Faculty of Pharmacy big family and motivated them to never give up on their dreams and aspirations.
Author: Intang Arifia
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
